There are many different potential mobile business applications (Apps) that can be allowed to run within an enterprise. Such Apps are typically single-file digital publications (packages) and are typically similar in structure to the Open Packaging Format (OPF). See FIG. 1.
For each application, an enterprise must determine the suitability of the App before allowing users to install the App. These Apps can be analyzed to determine which hardware and software features on the installed devices may be used or required. Based on this analysis, the enterprise may determine if an App is compatible with the capabilities of the user's devices and is also compliant with the enterprise's policies. Typically, a manifest may be included in the App package that describes a subset of the mobile application suitability features (MASFs). However, the manifest may be falsified or it may otherwise present an incorrect or incomplete representation of the Apps capabilities and compatibility.
Products, such as AdminStudio® (Flexera Software), test for application compatibility for other installer package formats, for example Windows Installers (MSIs). See FIG. 2.
At a high level, the MSI package can be considered to have a section for storing metadata and properties of the installer package, as well as binaries and resources that are installed on the target machine. Products, such as AdminStudio®, do not perform a dynamic analysis of a target package. Instead, such products can analyze the binaries and resources in the package for dependencies and compatibility to a given operating system (OS).
It would be advantageous to provide application compatibility testing for mobile applications.